Questions
Question
Many scientists believe that the universe began in an explosion known as the Big Bang. Describe and explain two observation that supports the Big Bang Theory.
- Red shift - When we look at the spectrumA series of similar waves arranged in order of wavelength or frequency. of a star in another galaxy, the pattern of lines in the absorption spectrum has moved, or ‘shifted’, towards the lower frequencyThe number of waves produced each second. The unit of frequency is hertz (Hz)., longer wavelengthThe length of a single wave, measured from one wave peak to the next., red end of the spectrum. The shifting of the light to longer wavelength is an indication that the galaxy is moving away from our galaxy.
- Astronomers discovered cosmic microwave background radiation cosmic microwave background radiationElectromagnetic radiation, detected throughout the Universe that is left over from the Big Bang. CMBR has a wavelength of about 2 mm. in the 1960s. The wavelength of this radiation appears to be the same no matter where in space that it comes from and it corresponds to a temperature of about –270 °C. It comes from all directions and from all parts of space. It is thought that the continuous microwave background radiation is the remains of the heat energy from the Big Bang, spread thinly across the whole Universe.